Yes, James Arness was perfect. Also, we females found him sooo attractive. Yes, I had a bit of a crush on him as a little girl. But I wanted him to marry Miss Kitty, lol.
Raymond Burr made a good Perry Mason. I rooted for him as a little kid, and hated Hamilton Burger. My parents kept telling me he was just doing his job, but as a little kid, all I could see was Bad Man. For some reason, I didn’t wonder why he didn’t marry Della Street. Kids! Go figure.
Nowadays, I suppose kids wouldn’t watch such shows, but we all did back then. The adult themes were done so they went over our heads, and the gunfights and brawls didn’t turn us into violent thugs.
Arness’ brother Peter Graves was perfect for his role in Mission Impossible as well.
I am glad that we had one TV and my parents controlled it most of the time. I think that helped me to develop mature tastes. Those programs had talented writers who could tell good stories that could be enjoyed by anyone. I learned that there were things going on before I was born by watching westerns and the WW2 programs. Those old shows are still what I tune in today when I feel like a little TV.